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Monday, May 31, 2010

Remembering Richards Men on Memorial Day

Floyd Alvin Richards

July 28, 1918 - March 10, 1979

15th AAF in ITALY - T.Sgt. Floyd A. Richards, 25, of Mineral Wells, Texas, Engineer gunner on a AAF B17 Flying Fortress, has been awarded the Air Medal for meritorious achievement while participating in air combat.

Sgt. Richards came overseas July 2, 1944, and flew his first mission July 14, to bomb the oil refineries at Budapest, Hungary. He is now a veteran of over 30 long-range missions.

He enlisted in the Army July 19, 1941, and received his wings upon completion of gunnery school at Harlingen, Texas.

My uncle, Floyd, was the 3rd of 11 children born to Willie Homsley and John Robert Richards, with my father, Leon, only two years older. They had an older sister, Iwanda, who was three years older than Floyd, but she died when she was six years old. The seven boys in this family all looked a lot alike, but of all of them, I thought Floyd and my daddy, Leon, were more alike.

Helen and Floyd Richards holding son, Ronald Wayne

Vernelle and Leon Richards with daughter, Judith Gail

About 1947 in Grand Prairie or Fort Worth, Texas

J. D. Richards

Born December 28, 1924 in Whitt, Parker County, Texas

Six years younger than his brother, Floyd, J. D. also served in the Army. Although he is still alive, he suffers from Alzheimer's disease and his children and all of his nieces and nephews sometimes miss his quick wit and family stories; however, he sometimes seems to be his old self.

J. D. Richards

in military uniform

My daddy, Leon, did not serve his country and I think he felt like he was not needed or useful. He was turned down when he went to enlist because of his eyesight. But I feel that he served his time here at home with his family, helping with his parents and other brothers and sisters, as well as his own little family. I have a letter that he wrote from San Antonio to my mother about the enlistment experience. I have transcribed it and you can read it here.

As an adult, I've grown more and more appreciative of the sacrifices made by the men and women of our armed forces. Memorial Day has become a day to think back to those times when they lived and served and to say thank you.

3 comments:

Linda Richards
said...

Just went and read this and as always Judy you are awesome. To add to your thoughts I remember being at Leon's one time and was sitting at the table with all the uncles that were there. As I looked at the table they all had their hands in the same position and you could barely tell whose were whose.Linda

Judy, Love your blog! I have seen pictures of the uncles in military uniforms but never heard any stories of their time served. I find it very interesting that Uncle Floyd was a gunner, would've loved the opportunity to talk to him as an adult about his experiences. Teresa

You know at the time I wrote this post, I didn't remember that Uncle Frank and your dad, my uncle Verdell, also served. I was reminded when you sent me his picture in uniform a few weeks ago. Yes, it would have been something to have sat down and talked to them about their service. Thanks for reading my blog, Teresa!

Homsley Reunion, Seymour, Texas

Shiloh Baptist Church in 1736 ~ Camden County, North Carolina

Original Wooden Building ~ Click on Picture to go to Camden County's Homepage.

HOMESLEY CONNECTIONS

Several of my Richards family cousins have a copy of Carrie Homesley Cunningham's book, "Historical Record of the Holmesley Family." My dad gave me his copy before he died. In Len and Greg's post, "Homsley Stories", a reader tells them how Mrs. Cunningham came to his family farm when he was a boy in Arkansas and talked to his father about genealogy and then came back, delivering her printed book by car to different families that had ordered several copies!

You'll find other gems in this wonderful article on Glenn Gabbard's ancestry which is Homesley ~ the same as mine, and Len's and Greg's.﻿